Charles Arnould Tournemire (1870-1939) was French composer and organist best known for his organ music. A student of César Franck, his best known work is L'Orgue mystique, a group of 51 sets of five pieces each, written to cover the cycle of the Roman Catholic liturgical year. The Variae Preces (prayers) is a collection of 40 works for organ or harmonium. These 5 Noëls Originaux are extracted from the larger work, though the complete Variae Preces is also available from the publisher.